The invention relates to systems, methods, and apparatus for assessing a musical performance. The musical performance can include a user's performance of a musical instrument. MIDI or audio notes are input and compared to the notes of a music track. An indication is provided to assess the musical performance. The assessment can be on the basis of timing and/or pitch errors.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method for providing instruction and assessing a musical performance, the method comprising: displaying a musical composition on a first region of a display device; displaying on a separate second region of said display device a performance of said musical composition on a musical instrument for teaching a user how to perform said musical composition on said musical instrument; receiving an indication from a user of a start of a musical performance by said user of said musical composition; displaying a timing guide on said displayed musical composition in response to said indication; receiving an input corresponding to a real-time performance of said displayed musical composition by said user with respect to said displayed timing guide; comparing the input to notes of said displayed musical composition; and displaying a real-time assessment of the real-time musical performance as a result of said comparing.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the input is a MIDI signal.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the input is an audio signal.
4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein prior to the comparing step, the method further comprises analyzing the audio signal.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein displaying the assessment comprises displaying a pitch error.
6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein displaying the pitch error comprises displaying correct notes and erroneous notes.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein displaying the assessment comprises displaying a timing error.
8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein displaying the timing error comprises displaying a correct note and an incorrect note, wherein the incorrect note is offset from the correct note by a distance.
9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the distance is proportional to the timing error.
10. The method according to claim 8 , wherein an incorrect note played too early is offset to the left of the correct note, and an incorrect note played too late is offset to the right of the correct note.
11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein displaying the assessment comprises displaying an assessment lane having a length proportional to the duration of a musical track or a musical score, the assessment lane comprising an error area, the error area having a length proportional to the duration of a segment of the musical track or the musical score containing an error selected from a group consisting of pitch errors, timing errors, and combinations thereof.
12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of said musical composition on said display is stationary while said timing guide moves along displayed notes of said composition.
13. A computer program product for assessing a musical performance comprising: a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for causing a computer to: display a musical composition on a first region of a display device; display on a separate second region of said display device a performance of said musical composition on a musical instrument for teaching a user how to perform said musical composition on said musical instrument; receive an indication from a user of a start of a musical performance by said user of said musical composition; display a timing guide on said displayed musical composition in response to said indication; receive an input corresponding to a real-time performance of said displayed musical composition by said user with respect to said displayed timing guide; compare the input to notes of said displayed musical composition; and display a real-time assessment of the real-time musical performance as a result of said comparison.
14. The computer program product according to claim 13 , wherein the musical performance is received as a MIDI signal.
15. The computer program product according to claim 13 , wherein the musical performance is received as an audio signal.
16. The computer program product according to claim 15 , wherein a processing module is operative to analyze the audio signal prior to comparing the musical performance to a reference.
17. The computer program product according to claim 13 , wherein a display module is operative to cause the display of a pitch error.
18. The computer program product according to claim 13 , wherein the display module is operative to cause the display of a timing error.
19. The computer program product according to claim 13 , wherein the display module is operative to cause the display of an assessment lane having a length proportional to the duration of the musical track or the musical score, the assessment lane comprising an error area, the error area having a length proportional to the duration of a segment of the musical track or the musical score containing an error selected from the group consisting of pitch errors, timing errors, and combinations thereof.
20. The computer program product according to claim 13 , wherein at least a portion of said musical composition on said display is stationary while said timing guide moves along displayed notes of said composition.
21. A system comprising: a display device for displaying a musical composition on a first region thereof; an input device; and a processor for displaying on a separate second region of said display device a performance of said musical composition on a musical instrument for teaching a user how to perform said musical composition on said musical instrument; receiving an indication from a user via said input device of a start of a musical performance by said user of said musical composition; displaying a timing guide on said displayed musical composition in response to said indication; receiving an input from said input device corresponding to a real-time performance of said displayed musical composition by said user with respect to said displayed timing guide; comparing the input to notes of said displayed musical composition; and displaying a real-time assessment of the real-time musical performance on said display device as a result of said comparing.
22. The system according to claim 21 , wherein sound is received by the system as a MIDI signal.
23. The system according to claim 21 , wherein the sound is received by the system as an audio signal.
24. The system according to claim 23 , wherein the processor is operative to analyze the audio signal prior to comparing the input to the reference sounds.
25. The system according to claim 21 , wherein the display device is operative to cause the display of a pitch error.
26. The system according to claim 21 , wherein the display device is operative to cause the display of a timing error.
27. The system according to claim 21 , wherein the display device is operative to cause the display of an assessment lane having a length proportional to the duration of a musical track or a musical score, the assessment lane comprising an error area, the error area having a length proportional to the duration of a segment of the musical track or the musical score containing an error selected from a group consisting of pitch errors, timing errors, and combinations thereof.
28. The system according to claim 21 , wherein at least a portion of said musical composition on said display is stationary while said timing guide moves along displayed notes of said composition.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
April 23, 2010
December 25, 2012
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